James broke down Thompson's place in the Kings' future and his performance as a No. 12 pick. My angle is more looking at what will work best for the Kings. How should they approach this decision? These are the questions that inform the answer to that.

Are you looking to trade JT this season? If the Kings are looking for guard help or another wing and have been or will be dangling Thompson, you simply don't extend Thompson right now. That complicates matters entirely too much. While pending restricted free agent status is worse than if Thompson were a year away from RFA, it's better than holding a long-term contract.

What has the league's interest level in JT been? Even if you decide that you won't look to trade Thompson by the March 15 deadline, the team has surely been approached with trade offers. (This assumes that Geoff Petrie picks up his phone, which I guess we can no longer assume.) When teams discuss the Kings' assets, what do they say about Thompson? Surely there's some smokescreening going on, and the information will always be imperfect. But through this market activity — again, assuming the Kings are active at all — the team can determine the league's general sentiment about Thompson, and as such make an educated guess about his potential offers as an RFA.

There seems to be no chance Thompson signs an extension by Wednesday, and as the team continues to sort out its future, that's probably for the best. As a fan, I hope they are able to keep JT in July. He's a solid player, and if you lose him, you'll have to replace him, probably at a higher price tag, if the team ever makes it back to playoff contention.